Diary

Tom Scott

I live part-time on Nantucket and part-time in Boston. I fly my own small plane, so I get back and forth pretty easily. I spent the weekend on Nantucket with some friends. I had hoped to get some surfing in, but the weather did not cooperate–there were no waves. Last night I played cards (hearts) with a group of friends on the island. I did not win–I tried to shoot the moon on the last hand and blew it.

So, I woke up on the island and had some meetings with some of our on-island people. We run a nonprofit organization called Juice Guys Care, which is headquartered on the island. This is an organization that has access to all Nantucket Nectars’ assets and uses them to support social causes. JGC focuses mostly on underprivileged kids. I met with the head of the organization, Kate, and a guy who is going to create a video that raises awareness of some of the issues for the year-round residents of Nantucket. Nantucket is struggling with issues that surround the tremendous growth it has experienced over the past few years, from conservation to affordable housing. We are financing the video through Juice Guys Care. I drank a cup of coffee when the meeting began. Dumb idea. Caffeine makes me crazy. I was on edge for the rest of the day.

This afternoon I got into my plane with two friends to fly to Hyannis to play golf at Hyannisport Golf Club, one of my favorite courses. I rarely get to play there and I could not turn down the invitation this time, even though I was going to miss work, which always makes me feel guilty. My partner, Tom First, and I have been running our own business together for 14 years. We ran a painting company, delivered fish, started a boat service business, banged nails–you name it. But despite being my own boss, I can’t get used to missing work on a workday.

Anyway, it was completely foggy. I am an instrument-rated pilot (I can fly on bad weather days), but flying in pea-soup fog always makes me nervous. You basically take off, lose all sight of everything, and the next thing you see is the runway lights at the next airport. Thanks to the amazing technology, we landed safely in Hyannis.

The coffee buzz still was not letting up. I lost my cell phone. Stress and guilt for playing golf on a school day was building. I began to remember why I hate playing hooky from work. I always call Tom First in this type of situation. I have to check in to make sure I’m not missing anything. So, I had to keep running back and forth to a pay phone to call him.

On about the 12th hole the downpour began. Cold, windy, spring-on-Cape Cod rain. Miserable.

After that it was back to the pay phone. I had hoped to fly back to Nantucket and get to work. I am able to work out of an office out there, which keeps me online with our other office in Boston. Well, lots of lightning, thunder, and hail kept that from happening. So I went over to a friend’s house in the Hyannis area to use his computer.

For the rest of the afternoon, I was on the phone and sending e-mails. My e-mails range from consumer compliments and complaints to meeting requests to jokes to friendly stuff. A couple of people at work have a bet going as to whether our head of advertising can throw a baseball 100 yards. I had to get into the mix on that one. The coffee buzz was finally letting up. As I got into phone calls and e-mails, the stress began to ease.

The weather hasn’t let up–looks like I’ll be sleeping in Hyannis. I can’t wait to get to work tomorrow. Today was crazy.